Tag: hollywood

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Crosses $400 Million at Global Box Office

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has scurried past the 400-million-dollar mark at the global box office. As of Wednesday, director Joel Crawford’s spin-off sequel has collected $401.5 million (about Rs. 3,318 crore), to earn 14th place among the highest-grossing releases of 2022. Out of that figure, $241.4 million (about Rs. 1,995 crore) were pulled from markets outside the US, with Mexico being the top market. Within the US and Canada, the animated swashbuckling-kitty film has earned $160.1 million (about Rs. 1,323 crore). With these numbers, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish remains the no. 3 studio animated movie since the pandemic era.

As per Deadline’s estimations, by this weekend, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish will surpass the box office numbers set by Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Uncharted. As mentioned before, Mexico remains the top market, collecting $23.9 million (about Rs. 198 crore), followed closely by France which drew $20.3 million (about Rs. 168 crore). Germany comes third, adding $16.2 million (about Rs. 134 crore) in ticket sales, while Brazil pulled $15.4 million (about Rs. 127 crore). The top five regions for the film were rounded out by Australia with $14 million (about Rs. 116 crore) in ticket sales so far.

In India, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has collected merely $390,681 (about Rs. 3.2 crore). For distributor Universal Pictures, it is the third biggest studio animated release since the pandemic. The first position is held by Minions: The Rise of Gru, which made an incredible $939.6 million (about Rs. 7,766 crore) last year, followed by 2021’s Sing 2 with $413 million (about Rs. 3,414 crore). The film has also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature.

Drawing inspiration from Spaghetti Western films, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish sees Antonio Banderas returning to voice the titular fugitive cat, alongside Salma Hayek as companion Kitty Softpaws, the street-savvy ex-fiancée. In it, our lead Puss in Boots has a rude awakening, realising that he’s carelessly burned through eight of his nine cat lives and that his next encounter with death could mean the end of his legend. As a last resort, he then embarks on a mythical quest to find the fabled wishing star to help replenish his life supply. Despite being a spin-off sequel to the 2011 Puss in Boots, much of the cast here is new — Harvey Guillén as Perrito the mistreated dog, Florence Pugh (Black Widow) as Goldilocks, Wagner Moura as the cunning Wolf, and Academy Award-winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite) as Mama Bear.

Akin to DreamWorks Animation’s previous project The Bad Guys, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish follows a similar animation style as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — hand-drawn art with frame drops during action segments. “In the opening, we use more hand-drawn techniques,” director Crawford explained in an interview. “When Puss is running on the rooftops, the motion isn’t always super-smooth. That was important to us, to feel like this is a fairy tale that you’re being dropped into…”, said Crawford.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is now running in theatres worldwide, including in India.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Shazam! Fury of the Gods New Trailer: Zachary Levi Considers Giving Up His Superpowers

Shazam! Fury of the Gods just got a new trailer. After a brief showing at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Warner Bros. has dropped new footage which gives away important plot beats — a lot of it — that, in a manner, could mark the end or the beginning of the next chapter in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The trailer, available in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, feels overstuffed. Originally slated to release in April 2022, the sequel suffered multiple delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually settling for a March 17, 2023, date. David F. Sandberg returns to direct, of course.

The trailer for Shazam! Fury of the Gods opens with a voiceover, as Kalypso (Lucy Liu), the second daughter of Atlas, sows a seed into the middle of a baseball stadium. The seed births a gigantic tree, whose roots and branches spread out into the city, destroying everything in its path. “We are at war. We will annihilate everything,” the ill-intentioned oldest daughter Hespera (Helen Mirren) warns Shazam! (Zachary Levi), at a local eatery. “The champions of this realm can do nothing to stop us.” The Shazam! 2 trailer then confirms it has been a “few years” since the young Billy Batson (Asher Angel) received superpowers in the original 2019 film, which was then distributed among his foster siblings, who’ve established themselves as the rightful protectors of the city.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods Hindi trailer

Shazam! Fury of the Gods Tamil trailer

Shazam! Fury of the Gods Telugu trailer

The casting only sees one change — Grace Fulton is returning as Mary Bromfield/ Mary Marvel, albeit this time, she will be playing both the academically-driven sister and the adult superhero form. Previously, the latter, older version was portrayed by Michelle Brothe. Not sure how the film will handle the secret identity side of things. Hopefully, no glasses.

The Shazam! Fury of the Gods trailer then delves into exposition territory, establishing why the Daughters of Atlas have decided to hunt our heroes. “Children stole the power of the gods,” Hespera explains, while taking physically disabled foster brother Frederick Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) as a hostage. “You ripped it from our father’s core.” The trailer then cuts into a montage of action sequences, with Shazam! charging headfirst into the dragon Kalypso is riding on — which he happens to call “Khaleesi.” A Game of Thrones reference? Rachel Zegler’s Anthea, the third daughter of Atlas, makes an appearance much later in the Shazam! 2 trailer and can be seen casting a spell.

“I don’t know how we fight powers like this,” Bromfield says, as the entire city gets enveloped in a blue, dome-like shield. At this point, the Shazam! Fury of the Gods trailer presents the big wager, with Batson wanting his powers taken away, in hopes of saving the city and his beloved foster brother. “I spent millennia searching for a worthy champion,” The Wizard (Djimon Hounsou) says. “You know exactly what must be done.” The trailer ends with some shots from the final confrontation, which sees Shazam! fighting the aforementioned dragon, as a group of unicorns and other mythical creatures take over the city. As I said before, it is overstuffed and pretty much gives away the entire movie.

Deemed as a quality product by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, as he was planning to chart out a new future for the DCEU, it’s clear that Shazam! Fury of the Gods will no longer include Black Adam in the fold. New DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran decided against a Black Adam sequel, which essentially cancels the universe’s interconnectivity that star Dwayne Johnson had planned.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods strikes theatres worldwide on March 17.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

The Batman Director Matt Reeves to Meet With James Gunn to Discuss BatVerse Future: Report

The Batman director Matt Reeves has an upcoming meeting with new DC Studio co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran. As per a new report, the filmmaker celebrated Cloverfield’s 15-year anniversary and confirmed that his BatVerse will be developed parallel with the new DC Universe. The conversation comes in the wake of the DC Comics brand getting a ‘reset’, with the new bosses still mapping out a 10-year-long plan for an intertwined storyline akin to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The idea of the meeting is to go over long-term storyline plans from either party and ensure they don’t conflict with each other.

“We’re actually supposed to meet in the next few weeks because they want to talk to me about the broad plan, and then they want to hear the BatVerse plan. We’re just getting together to talk about all of that,” Reeves said, as per a Collider report. “Look, I’m excited to hear what they’re going to do. The BatVerse thing, as James has said, and as Peter has said, is kind of its own thing they’re letting us do.” Reeves kicked off his The Batman universe last year with Robert Pattinson in the starring role, which earned critical acclaim and grossed $770.8 million (about Rs. 6,275 crore) at the global box office. It currently sits at the seventh position among the highest-grossing films of 2022.

The Batman Review: Robert Pattinson and Matt Reeves Make for a Moody Visceral Opera

When Gunn and Safran came on board as new heads, and made tough calls for a unified DC story, fans were worried about Reeves’ vision getting meddled with. The duo have already made some controversial decisions in light of future plans, which include scrapping Wonder Woman 3 and cancelling Henry Cavill’s return as Superman. Gunn also recently confirmed that he had been working on a script focusing on a younger version of Superman — not an origin story — though there’s no word on who will direct it. According to Variety, the pair is expected to present their 10-year plan — spanning movies, shoes, animation, and video games — to Warner Bros. Discovery executives, later this month. Those plans, for now, do not include a Black Adam sequel either.

It is possible that Gunn and Safran would adopt DC Comics’ Elseworlds strategy, which relies on alternate realities that run separately from the main arc. “I had this dream for the way I wanted that to play out and that’s part of what I’m going to be talking to them about in a few weeks,” Reeves added. “They’re going to be talking to me about what they’re doing in their 10-year plan or certainly what’s in the near future as well so that we can understand that we’re not — it’s air traffic control — we don’t want to be crashing into each other.”

Reeves, who is currently deep into writing The Batman sequel has also confirmed that the film will continue to focus on Bruce Wayne’s arc instead of its outlandish rogue’s gallery. “[…] a lot of times what happens is, after you do the first one, then suddenly other Rogues Gallery characters come in, and they kind of take over, and then Batman takes a backseat sort of character-wise, or emotionally,” he explained.

Previous reports confirmed that the director is looking to expand on the villains via spin-off stories, with characters ranging from Scarecrow, Clayface, and Professor Pyg, as a means to build out a larger universe. The first of them is the Colin Farrell-led Penguin spin-off series, which will soon begin filming. Reeves pointed out that the series will be ‘tightly connected’ to the theatrical release, presumably functioning as a foundation for The Batman sequel. “There’s actually a whole little fabric of things we’re wanting to do, the way we’re doing with [the] Penguin and how that comes back into how that will lead into the sequel, and what that sequel is going to be,” Reeves said.

The Batman is now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Golden Globe Winners 2023: The Full List, From RRR to The Fabelmans

The 2023 Golden Globes were held earlier on Tuesday night in California, celebrating the best talent in the film and entertainment industry from the year that went by. Both The Fabelmans and The Banshees of Inisherin led the pack of winners with two top honours apiece, with the former winning the coveted Best Picture award in the drama category. Its director Stephen Spielberg emerged as the best director this year, while the latter’s Martin McDonagh won for best screenplay. The Irish black comedy’s lead Colin Farrell also bagged an award for best actor in a musical/comedy. On the TV side, Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon, and the second seasons of The White Lotus and Abbott Elementary were among the big winners at the 2023 Golden Globes.

India was in the running too at this year’s Golden Globes. While S.S. Rajamouli’s action-packed epic RRR missed out in the Best Non-English Language film category, it netted an award for the Best Original Song, thanks to its energetic piece “Naatu Naatu.” The song has also been shortlisted for the upcoming Oscars in the similar category.

Elsewhere, the leads of the uber-creative Everything Everywhere All at Once, Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, trumped as best performers in the musical/ comedy motion picture category. James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water — nominated in two categories — couldn’t bag a single award, though it continues to revel on the box office front, becoming the seventh biggest movie of all time (about Rs. 13,895 crore) in under a month since release.

The 10 Best Movies of 2022

Cate Blanchett was crowned Best Actress in a drama film, for her commanding performance in Tár, while Austin Butler secured one for his slick persona in Elvis. Other notable achievements include Zendaya winning best actress for Euphoria season 2 and Jennifer Coolidge as best supporting actress for The White Lotus’ second season. Both actresses were awarded in similar fields during the 2022 Emmy Awards back in September.

Hosted by comedian-actor Jerrod Carmichael, the 2023 Golden Globes marked the ceremony’s return to a televised broadcast, after allegations of racism and unethical conduct were brought up against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — the body that organises the awards — in 2021. Its prime US-based network NBC dumped the awards show that year, wanting to see “meaningful reform” from the organisation. The original report from Los Angeles Times revealed that the HFPA contained zero Black members, and that some voters had been frequently accepting “freebies” from studios. It prompted a boycott from publicists and stars, eventually leading to the cancellation of last year’s Golden Globe Awards. Golden Globes returned to TV in 2023 — in India, it was streamed on Lionsgate Play.

The 10 Best Web Series and TV Shows of 2022

With that, here’s the entire list of winners at this year’s Golden Globes:

Golden Globe winners 2023 — the full list

2023 Golden Globe for Best Movie – Drama

​The Fabelmans — WINNER
Avatar: The Way of Water
Elvis
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick

2023 Golden Globe for Best Movie – Musical or Comedy

The Banshees of Inisherin — WINNER
Babylon
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Triangle of Sadness

2023 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Movie – Drama

Cate Blanchett, Tár — WINNER
Ana de Armas, Blonde
Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans
Olivia Colman, Empire of Light
Viola Davis, The Woman King

2023 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Movie – Drama

Austin Butler, Elvis — WINNER
Bill Nighy, Living
Brendan Fraser, The Whale
Hugh Jackman, The Son
Jeremy Pope, The Inspection

2023 Colden Globe for Best Actress in a Movie – Musical or Comedy

Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once — WINNER Anya Taylor-Joy, The Menu
Emma Thompson, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Lesley Manville, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
Margot Robbie, Babylon

2023 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Movie – Musical or Comedy

Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin — WINNER
Adam Driver, White Noise
Daniel Craig, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Diego Calva, Babylon
Ralph Fiennes, The Menu

2023 Golden Globe for Best Director – Movie

Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans — WINNER
Baz Luhrmann, Elvis
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin

2023 Golden Globe for Best Screenplay – Movie

Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin — WINNER
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Sarah Polley, Women Talking
Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner, The Fabelmans
Todd Field, Tár

2023 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in Any Movie

Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — WINNER
Carey Mulligan, She Said
Dolly De Leon, Triangle of Sadness
Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin

2023 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in Any Movie

Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once — WINNER
Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin
Brad Pitt, Babylon
Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
Eddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse

2023 Golden Globe for Best Movie – Non-English Language

Argentina, 1985 (Argentina) — WINNER
All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)
Close (Belgium)
Decision to Leave (South Korea)
RRR (India)

2023 Golden Globe for Best Animated Movie

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio — WINNER
Inu-Oh
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Turning Red

2023 Golden Globe for Best Original Score – Movie

Justin Hurwitz, Babylon — WINNER
Alexandre Desplat, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Carter Burwell, The Banshees of Inisherin
Hildur Gudnadóttir, Women Talking
John Williams, The Fabelmans

2023 Golden Globe for Best Original Song – Movie

“Naatu Naatu,” Kala Bhairava, M.M. Keeravani, Kala Bhairava, Rahul Sipligunj (RRR) — WINNER
“Carolina,” Taylor Swift (Where the Crawdads Sing)
“Ciao Papa,” Alexandre Desplat, Guillermo del Toro, Roeban Katz (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio)
“Hold My Hand,” Lady Gaga, BloodPop, Benjamin Rice (Top Gun: Maverick)
“Lift Me Up,” Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

2023 Golden Globe for Best TV Series – Drama

House of the Dragon — WINNER
Better Call Saul
The Crown
Ozark
Severance

2023 Golden Globe for Best TV Series – Musical or Comedy

Abbott Elementary — WINNER
The Bear
Hacks
Only Murders in the Building
Wednesday

2023 Golden Globe for Best Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie

The White Lotus — WINNER
Black Bird
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
The Dropout
Pam & Tommy

2023 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Series – Drama

Zendaya, Euphoria — WINNER
Emma D’Arcy, House of the Dragon
Hilary Swank, Alaska Daily
Imelda Staunton, The Crown
Laura Linney, Ozark

2023 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a TV Series – Drama

Kevin Costner, Yellowstone — WINNER
Adam Scott, Severance
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Diego Luna, Andor
Jeff Bridges, The Old Man

2023 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Series – Musical or Comedy

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary — WINNER
Jean Smart, Hacks
Jenna Ortega, Wednesday
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building

2023 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a TV Series – Musical or Comedy

Jeremy Allen White, The Bear — WINNER
Bill Hader, Barry
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building

2023 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or TV Movie

Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout — WINNER
Jessica Chastain, George and Tammy
Julia Garner, Inventing Anna
Julia Roberts, Gaslit
Lily James, Pam & Tommy

2023 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or TV Movie

Evan Peters, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story — WINNER
Andrew Garfield, Under the Banner of Heaven
Colin Firth, The Staircase
Sebastian Stan, Pam & Tommy
Taron Egerton, Black Bird

2023 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical-Comedy or Drama TV Series

Julia Garner, Ozark — WINNER
Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary

2023 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical-Comedy or Drama TV Series

Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary — WINNER
Henry Winkler, Barry
John Lithgow, The Old Man
Jonathan Pryce, The Crown
John Turturro, Severance

2023 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie

Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus — WINNER
Aubrey Plaza, The White Lotus
Claire Danes, Fleishman Is in Trouble
Daisy Edgar-Jones, Under the Banner of Heaven
Niecy Nash, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

2023 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or TV Movie

Paul Walter Hauser, Black Bird — WINNER
Domhnall Gleeson, The Patient
F. Murray Abraham, The White Lotus
Richard Jenkins, Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Seth Rogen, Pam & Tommy

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Catch the latest from the Consumer Electronics Show on Gadgets 360, at our CES 2023 hub.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Becomes Sixth-Biggest Movie Debut for Netflix, With 82.1 Million Hours

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, director Rian Johnson’s latest whodunnit, is now Netflix’s sixth-biggest movie debut, in terms of watch time. The streamer rankings for the period December 19–25 saw the Daniel Craig-led mystery follow-up topping the charts for an English-language film, recording 82.1 million hours watched during its debut week. Glass Onion dropped December 23 on the platform, which means its numbers were calculated merely over a three-day period. The second Knives Out movie underwent a limited theatrical release in select countries, a month prior.

These numbers put Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery right behind the Sandra Bullock-led The Unforgivable, which recorded 85.86 million viewed hours upon debut. As per Netflix, the current record-holder in the English-language category is Red Notice, whose key ingredient was the lead lineup of Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds. The film opened with 148.70 hours of recorded viewing time upon release. The three positions between them are held by director Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up (111.03 million hours), Reynolds-led The Adam Project (92.43 million hours), and the very pricey Russo brothers feature The Gray Man (88.55 million hours).

The Knives Out sequel made its way to the Top 10 of all 93 countries Netflix tracks. Glass Onion was ranked #1 in 67 countries — India is not one of them. It helps that the Craig-led movie was released during the Christmas season, which ensured a lot of people were home during the winter holidays, especially in the Global North. Following close behind this past week is the disaster documentary The Volcano: Rescue From Whakaari with 25.1 million viewed hours, while Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio got knocked down to third place, collecting 19.6 million hours in view time. The latter held first place during the last recorded week.

The Knives Out franchise marked a big investment for Netflix last year, with the studio acquiring the rights to two sequels — including Glass Onion and Knives Out 3 — for a reported $450 million (about Rs. 3,730 crore). Craig reprised the role of detective Benoit Blanc in the sequel, heading to Greece this time, where tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) is hosting a murder-mystery party at his lavish residence. Invited to the annual tropical getaway are the latter’s nearest and dearest friends, who turn into suspects when an actual killing occurs. The film enlists an ensemble cast including Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Jessica Henwick, Dave Bautista, and Madelyn Cline.

As for the English-language TV rankings, the Jenna Ortega-led Wednesday maintains rank one since its release last month, during which it surpassed Stranger Things 4’s record for most watch time in a debut week. The period December 19–25 sees the Lily Collins-led Emily in Paris season 3 in second place with 117.6 million hours in view time, followed by the Noah Centineo-starrer The Recruit with 95.5 million hours on Netflix.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is now streaming on Netflix.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Avatar 3, Avatar 4 Scenes Already Shot to Avoid ‘Stranger Things Effect,’ James Cameron Reveals

As Avatar: The Way of Water rides waves across theatres, director James Cameron has now coined a new phrase called “the Stranger Things effect.” Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the filmmaker claimed that certain footage for Avatar 3 and Avatar 4 was shot in tandem with the second Avatar film, in order to avoid the child actors from inevitably growing up, and showing signs of ageing. The multi-year project had to be covered in a single production, “Otherwise, you get — and I love Stranger Things — but you get the Stranger Things effect where they’re supposed to still be in high school [but] they look like they’re 27,” Cameron said.

While it was easy for leads Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña to slip into their roles whenever, it never stopped the child actors’ growth spurts. Jack Champion, who portrays Miles “Spider” Socorro, the adoptive human child of Jake Sully and Neytiri, was 14 when Avatar: The Way of Water began filming. “We shot with Jack when he was 14 and 15, almost up to 16. So we were shooting him over an 18-month period,” Cameron told EW. The actor is now an adult, he turned 18 in November. Production would continuously switch between filming scenes for The Way of Water, the entirety of Avatar 3, and act one of Avatar 4.

Avatar: The Way of Water Review: James Cameron Gives Us the Biggest ‘Video Game Movie’ Ever

Sure, performance capture could turn returning star Sigourney Weaver into a teenager, Kiri, but there are limitations to performance capture VFX. Trinity Jo-Li Bliss plays Tukt, the youngest child of Jake and Neytiri, and was cast in Avatar 2 when she was about seven years old. She’s now 13. Similarly, Bailey Bass, 19, who played the shoreline Metkayina clan’s Tsireya was about 12 when she auditioned for the sequel. While not as prominent, the effects of ageing are definitely noticeable in Netflix’s Stranger Things, where the male leads’ voices got deeper with each season. Cameron wanted to avoid that, and built on the Pandoran arc as quickly as possible, whilst leaving out a few unanswered questions at the end of each entry. “You can call it sequel bait, but I’m not trying to justify a sequel,” Cameron said in the interview. “We’ve already shot the other d–n movie. I don’t have to sell it to anybody.”

Speaking to Variety earlier this year, Avatar: The Way of Water producer Jon Landau briefly touched upon the filming process for the follow-ups in the franchise, noting that there were “logistical reasons” for the steps they took. And now we know why — to prevent the “Stranger Things effect”. Cameron also made bold claims about his Avatar universe, stating that he was even prepared to end the franchise with a trilogy if Avatar 2 underperformed.

In its first week, Avatar: The Way of Water has now surpassed the $600 million (about Rs. 5,052 crore) mark at the global box office. While its production budget hasn’t been explicitly mentioned, Cameron suggested that the film has to become “the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history, to break even.”

The notion of filming three films back-to-back never seemed daunting to Saldaña, at least from a plot and thematic standpoint. “We did read-throughs, we discussed extensively where we were, we defined those beats that distinguished [Avatar] 2 from 3,” she told EW. “So from where I was standing, I never felt that it was uncomfortable or anything, but that just has to do with the amount of time that we took in preparation for this. Jim makes you a part of the whole process and hears you. Every need that you have, he takes great attention to that detail and tries to the best of his ability to accommodate and incorporate your input.”

Avatar: The Way of Water is now playing in theatres in India, in English, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. Avatar 3 is slated to release in December 2024, followed by Avatar 4 in December 2026.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Avatar: The Way of Water Box Office Swims Past $600 Million in a Week

Avatar: The Way of Water has now grossed $609.7 million (about Rs. 5,052 crore) at the worldwide box office. This represents commercial figures for the new Avatar movie through Thursday, reflecting strong mid-week play, following its sizeable $435 million (about Rs. 3,604 crore) collected during the opening weekend. Roughly $427 million (about Rs. 3,540 crore) has been collected from markets outside the US, including India and the all-too-rare biggest market for Hollywood since the COVID-19 pandemic, China. Within the US and Canada, James Cameron’s hotly-anticipated sequel has earned a total of $183 million (about Rs. 1,516 crore).

According to Deadline, the top 10 markets for Avatar 2 from outside the US were led by China, which earned $70.5 million (about Rs. 584 crore), with France adding $37 million (about Rs. 306 crore) to the bag. Avatar: The Way of Water performed fairly well in Korea too, adding $32.1 million (about Rs. 266 crore) to the collection. Meanwhile, Disney India announced that the film managed to pull Rs. 235 crore (about $28.3 million) in the country. Coming back to Europe, German theatres drew $26.1 million (about Rs. 216 crore) in ticket sales, while the UK poured in $21.6 million (about Rs. 179 crore).

Avatar: The Way of Water Review: James Cameron Gives Us the Biggest ‘Video Game Movie’ Ever

Beyond that, we have Brazil, where Avatar 2 has grossed $12.6 million (about Rs. 104 crore), which was slightly topped by Italy with $13.8 million (about Rs. 114 crore). Mexico has contributed $19.4 million (about Rs. 161 crore) so far, whereas Australia did Pandora business worth $15.8 million (about Rs. 131 crore).

It’s in the weeks to come when Avatar 2’s strength will be fully tested, based on how many seats it’s able to fill on a recurring basis. The original 2009 Avatar managed to collect merely $242 million (about Rs. 2,004 crore) at the worldwide box office during its opening weekend, but maintained enough hype over the months to come, to become the biggest movie of all time. Neither Disney nor 20th Century Studios have revealed the production budget for Avatar: The Way of Water, but reports suggest that it sits at around $400 million (about Rs. 3,313 crore).

In order to break even, the film has to become “the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history,” Cameron said earlier. (That’s because production budgets don’t account for marketing spends.)

For what it’s worth, Cameron has experience getting there. His 1997 disaster romance film Titanic, and J.J. Abrams’ soft reboot Star Wars: The Force Awakens have both grossed over $2 billion (roughly Rs. 16,500 crore) apiece. The hefty runtime of Avatar: The Way of Water, clocking in at 3 hours and 12 minutes, is also said to pose a challenge in driving people to theatres. Though that didn’t stop Titanic.

Avatar: The Way of Water is now playing in theatres in India, in English, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet hang at hot Los Angeles club

Hollywood’s two biggest stars — Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet — had dinner together at Los Angeles’ hottest private club on Wednesday night, sources tell Page Six.

The pair were photographed driving to West Hollywood’s Bird Streets Club — with DiCaprio, 48, behind the wheel and Chalamet, 26, in the passenger seat.

The duo previously starred together in the Netflix disaster comedy, “Don’t Look Up,” and Chalamet has previously said in a recent Vogue UK interview that DiCaprio has given him past career advice over the years, including, “No hard drugs and no superhero movies.”

Inside the starry haunt, we hear that DiCaprio and Chalamet enjoyed dinner together before they headed up to the club’s roof to join a larger group of friends, sources close to the stars confirmed to Page Six.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet starred together in “Don’t Look Up.”
affinitypicture / BACKGRID
Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet were spotted together.
affinitypicture / BACKGRID


Advertisement

The insiders didn’t elaborate on what the thespians discussed at their powwow.

But DiCaprio has a reputation for picking the best projects in town — so we’d like to think he was giving the “Dune” star some more advice.

Chalamet has said that DiCaprio has given him career advice in the past.
Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images
DiCaprio had been spotted leaving the same club just a night earlier.
Patrick McMullan via Getty Images


Advertisement

DiCaprio had been spotted leaving the same club just a night earlier, and hopping into a car with Victoria Lamas, the 23-year-old daughter of Lorenzo Lamas. But sources told Page Six the pair had been at a “big group dinner” together, and “were also joined by a number of other people in the car.”

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Loki Season 2, Star Wars’ Ahsoka First Looks Lead Disney+ 2023 Sizzle Reel

Disney+ has revealed the first look at Loki season 2 and Star Wars series Ahsoka, via a sizzle reel that highlights upcoming releases on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar in 2023. Narrated by lead Tom Hiddleston himself, the footage for the next chapter of Loki promises more “over the top” time-hopping adventures, as Loki finds himself in an alternate Time Variance Authority, with Owen Wilson’s returning agent character Mobius M. Mobius. The Disney+ 2023 trailer also offers a brief glimpse at Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, who is getting her own eponymous Star Wars limited series, following a first appearance in The Mandalorian.

Loki season 2 first look

The tease for Loki season 2 features an interesting bit of banter between the God of Mischief (Hiddleston) and agent Mobius (Owen Wilson), though he’s speaking to three variants of Loki, all dressed in dapper suits, in a dark, silent alley. In the background, you can see an old-school motorcycle, which might indicate that our heroes travelled back to the past. Bear in mind, that since this is a new timeline, this version of Mobius does not even recognise Loki. Also, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) is in charge of the TVA, while its non-hostile multidimensional variant “He Who Remains” was stabbed to death by Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) in season 1. Loki season 2 is set to return in the summer of 2023, but before that, a variant of the villainous Kang will appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, slated to release in February next year.

Ahsoka first look teaser

Meanwhile, in the galaxy far, far away, Ahsoka Tano is getting a standalone live-action series headlined by Dawson. Dave Filoni, who helmed The Mandalorian, returns as writer and creator of the limited series, which he is also attached to produce alongside Jon Favreau (Iron Man). Very little is known about the plot for Ahsoka. Ahsoka enlists Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane). Filming on Ahsoka began in May, but there’s no information on a release window for the same.

More on Disney+, Disney+ Hotstar in 2023

That said, the Disney+ sizzle reel also featured some clips from The Mandalorian season 3, which is on track to premiere on March 1, 2023. It was originally eyeing a February window, and has now undergone a month-long delay.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is also headed to Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar in 2023, following its theatrical debut on November 11. The much-awaited sequel served as a tribute to the late actor Chadwick Boseman and has collected $788 million (about Rs. 6,519 crore) at the global box office. When out, Black Panther 2 should be available to stream in English and multiple regional languages.

From the same universe, we also get a new look at Secret Invasion, featuring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Martin Freeman as CIA agent Everett K. Ross, and Emilia Clarke as special agent Abigail Brand. The live-action series will kick off the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 5 on the small screen, and is aiming for an early 2023 release.

Acclaimed genre filmmaker David Lowery (The Green Knight) returns to Disney once more, with a “live-action” remake of the original 1953 film Peter Pan & Wendy. Streaming next year, exclusively on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar, we get some quick shots of our lead characters.

Towards the end, there are tiny glimpses of American Born Chinese, based on the eponymous graphic novel, Pixar’s TV series Win or Lose, Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2, Crater, and more.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Tom Cruise jumps from helicopter to thank ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ fans

A free-falling thank you!

Tom Cruise knows how to give his fans a proper thank you, taking a solo freefall dive ahead of “Top Gun: Maverick” release on Paramount+ to thank fans of the franchise for making the film a box office smash this past summer.

Cruise, 60, nonchalantly sitting along the outside of a helicopter, took time out from filming “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning” parts one and two in South Africa to tell fans how grateful he was for driving the films theater success.

“I didn’t want the year to end without thanking you all for coming out to the theaters and thank you for supporting ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’” Cruise yelled over the blades of the helicopter.

Accompanying Cruise in the air was “Dead Reckoning” director Christopher McQuarrie, who reminded the action star they had to get back to filming.

Cruise with “Dead Reckoning” director Christopher McQuarrie moments before jumping out of the helicopter.
Paramount Pictures / Youtube

The “A Few Good Men” star agreed and got into position to jump, but before letting go, he asked McQuarrie if he would be joining him.

“Not on your life. Good luck,” the director said.

“We’ll see ya down there,” Cruise says before fearlessly letting go of the aircraft and entering a freefall.

But, even in mid-air, falling over 100 mph toward earth, Cruise still had more to say about how gracious he was to everyone who came out to see the film in theaters.

“Top Gun: Maverick” hit nearly $1.5 billion at the box office.
Getty Images

“As always, thank you for allowing us to entertain you. It truly is the honor of a lifetime,” he said, all smiles as he fell towards the ocean.

Before running out of altitude, the “Jerry Maguire” star said he had to get “back to work” and wished everyone “a very safe and happy holiday.”

“We’ll see you at the movies,” he finished saying before pushing away from the camera in mid-air and continuing his solo fall down.

Cruise after pushing himself away from the camera and starting the scene of the new “Mission: Impossible.”
Paramount Pictures / Youtube

“Top Gun: Maverick,” originally supposed to be released in 2019 but was pushed back following all the complex flight scenes and then the global pandemic, was one of Paramount Pictures’ biggest hits of all time, amassing nearly $1.5 billion worldwide.

In May of this year, after the film was released in theaters, Cruise revealed that the film was never planning on making its debut via streaming services despite years of setbacks from filming and the pandemic.

The new film has Cruise reprising the role of Maverick, who returns to the elite aviation training program to train the next generation of flyers, including Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, Greg Tarzan Davis, Danny Ramirez, Lewis Pullman and Jay Ellis. Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm and Val Kilmer, reprising his role from the original, also star.

“Top Gun: Maverick” will be released on Paramount+ on Dec. 22, 2022.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Exit mobile version